Long Beach band the Moderates finds above-average fanfare

Garret Huff, left, Wes Mathison and Josh Taylor of the Moderates, a group of Cal State Long Beach students, plays during practice in a garage in Long Beach. STEVEN GEORGES, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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Josh Taylor, guitar and lead vocals for the Moderates, a group of Cal State Long Beach students, plays during practice in a garage in Long Beach. STEVEN GEORGES, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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Garret Huff of the Moderates, a group of Cal State Long Beach students, plays drums during practice in a garage in Long Beach. STEVEN GEORGES, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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Members of the band the Moderates said they hope their fans grow with them as they produce more music. STEVEN GEORGES, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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Members of the Moderates, a group of Cal State Long Beach students, are Garret Huff, drums, left, Wes Mathison, bass guitar and backup vocals, and Josh Taylor, guitar and lead vocals. STEVEN GEORGES, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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Wes Mathison, bass guitar and backup vocals for the Moderates, a group of Cal State Long Beach students, plays during practice in a garage in Long Beach. STEVEN GEORGES, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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Drummer Garret Huff of the Moderates, a group of Cal State Long Beach students, talks to the other band members during practice in a garage in Long Beach. STEVEN GEORGES, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Garret Huff, left, Wes Mathison and Josh Taylor of the Moderates, a group of Cal State Long Beach students, plays during practice in a garage in Long Beach. STEVEN GEORGES, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

If you go

Where they're playing: Alex's Bar, 2913 E. Anaheim St.

The time: 9:30 p.m. May 11

Who can go: People 21 years old and older

The cover charge: $7

Who's in the band?

Josh Taylor

Age: 19

Plays: vocals and guitar

Major: pre-film

Wes Mathison

Age: 20

Plays: Bass

Major: communication studies

Garret Huff

Age: 21

Plays: Drums

Major: After high school, Huff moved to Hollywood, where he studied at the Musicians Institute

In the moments between working at a local pizza shop, teaching guitar lessons, steering a gondola through the waterways of Sunset Beach and studying as a pre-film major at Cal State Long Beach, Josh Taylor is the vocals behind a blossoming musical trio.

“As soon as I give up sleep, I’ll be good,” Taylor said.

The Moderates’ Long Beach roots are present in their painstakingly edited videos, where Taylor puts his film background to work. The group has filmed around the city and at CSULB, but in its latest music video, the acoustic version of its song, “Strange Town,” the band alternates between a home and the Salton Sea.

While they have a strong local fan base, the Moderates have grown in popularity primarily by posting on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Fans in Texas, Colorado and on the East Coast have discovered their work.

Their fan base is mostly high schoolers, of which they’re not too far removed since Taylor and Wes Mathison graduated from Wilson High in 2012.

“We want our fans to grow with us,” drummer Garret Huff said.

Their music is well-suited to the high school crowd, with catchy tunes and lyrics that discuss family, relationships and finding a place in the world.

“There’s a lot of personal references to us,” Huff said.

The band plays nearly every weekend at a local venue and will be at Alex’s Bar in the Zaferia District on May 11 in a show headlined by Future Loves Past.

For its latest video, Taylor said the band wanted to make the chorus the jumping point between a family home and the desert. The process required meticulous measuring of how the equipment and band members were positioned.

“We planned everything so the equipment, everything, was the same,” Taylor said.

The finished product, after 11 weeks of revisions, of the all-acoustic video was released.

“He knocks it out of the park every time,” Huff said of Taylor’s filming abilities.

Taylor plans to visit New Zealand on a songwriting expedition. Nearly as soon as he comes back, the Moderates will open for REO Speedwagon at the San Diego County Fair on July 2, performing for 10,000 people, their largest audience.

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